Through The Storm

2

I had arrived home that afternoon, still shaken about my unwanted date. How could he do that to me? He broke me, shattered my heart, as if he had seared an unfixed hole right through me, and then he manages to make it bigger. After months of not hearing from him once and that's how he wanted our first interaction to go.

To sit here and blame him though would be wrong, I helped salt the wound all those months ago, I helped him leave and that's on me. He still holds responsibility for his actions that night but I pushed him. I walked to my room and went to the boxes on my floor, one was stuff he had given me or left here. Picking up one of the old photos, I reminisced on what we used to be. How did it end so quickly? This photo was only a couple weeks before the breakup. There were so many memories in this box, I planned on throwing them out but i still hadn't made myself do it.

My plane tickets were booked for Sunday afternoon, two days from now. I was getting away from here, Washington. The carrier of my childhood, but I didn't want it anymore. I was ready for the reset button. My mother had surprised me three weeks ago for my birthday with a plane ticket to Houston. She told me I could restart, no David, no old relationships, just me and whatever life has in store. I was opposed to the idea for a couple days but I realized it could be my chance to finally start my life how I wanted to. Of course, I'd need somewhere to stay and some way of paying for it. My mom had placed a down payment for an apartment and I signed a new lease, but without a job soon my savings wouldn't cover it. Part of the reason I needed to move in the first place was because I couldn't afford it here much longer. My mom had helped me out for the last six months but I'm sure she's tired of it.

~~

I woke up to a clash in the kitchen of my apartment, anxiety coursed through my veins. If someone had broken in I don't know what i would do. I cautiously walked towards the kitchen empty handed, and my whole body relaxed when I saw my mother hovering over the sink with a towel, she was washing dishes. I gave her a key last year after everything went down in case I needed a spare.
"What are you doing here?"

"I'm going to help you finish packing!" She sounded so excited, but I'm already pretty close to done.

"Uh Mom I finished most of my packing, I really only have the kitchen and living room, sorry"

"Well that's okay I'll help pack up the rest and then we'll go somewhere, yeah?" I wasn't up for much fun, I had planned on sitting and sulking lifelessly all day.

"Um yeah sure that's fine I guess, I'm gonna go roll up my air mattress." She smiled at me and went back to doing the dishes.

When I got back to my room I rolled up the mattress, since mine was already put into the moving truck, and opened my suitcase to grab a fresh set of clothes. I put on a tight red, low cut tank top with some light blue ripped skinny jeans, and some beige flats. This was one of my favorite casual outfits, I always wore tank tops and jeans. I went over to my other suitcase and took out my makeup bag and went to the bathroom to do it. I put on mascara, some eye liner, and highlighter just for a simple neutral look. I cleaned everything up, put it all back, and walked out of my room.

My mom was already putting clean dishes in boxes when I got into the kitchen. She took a look at me and said "wow you look nice today." I don't know what she means by that considering I look the same I always do. This was something me and my mom fought over whenever she was over; my outfits. I'm 24 years old and she still tries to fight with me about outfits.

"Can you not hound me today? I've had a rough couple of days!" Shit, saying that meant she would ask questions.

"What happened?"

"Dave- David, sorry I forget to not call him that anymore, he texted me. He wanted to meet up. So I did-"

"Estella Josette, I cannot believe you would do that! Why? After all he put you through, why?"

"I wanted to see what he wanted. So anyways, he's dating Kimberly now, so whatever." I looked down at my thumbs as I twiddled with them. I could tell she was upset with my decision to meet him, but if I could go back I wouldn't change it, I would still want to know if he moved on.

"Sweetheart, I know it's hard. I just wish you would let go, but it's okay. One day you'll find someone who you'll love more than you ever loved David."

I felt my tears threatening to appear again, but with everything in me I held it together. I didn't want my mom to see me cry over him again. I excused myself for the bathroom and did a quick pep talk in my mirror; reminded myself I was okay.

When we finally finished packing she suggested we go get our nails done, and I was always up for a manicure. Throughout our day together I realized there really isn't much for me here. I have one or two friends that don't keep in touch with me much, and they both live totally different lives than me. All my friends were David's friends, so they all went with him. I think I'm ready for my new life. I'm a little anxious about moving all the way to Houston from Seattle, but I've always wanted to live there. I went to bed early, anticipating the day I would have tomorrow.

~~

[ Okay, so there's chapter 2. This one was easier to write because it is the first couple chapters and I know more of where I'm going with this book. There hasn't been any mention of Cade yet, but don't worry he's coming soon. I feel like it's hard to write these few chapters because I have to set everything for the rest of the book or it will crumble into pieces. However, I hope you enjoyed it, and thanks for reading! See ya later <3 ]